[2] The church was built in 1754–55 as a chapel of ease to Lancaster Priory at a time when the town was growing rapidly.

On the top of the tower is a rotunda consisting of rectangular openings and Tuscan columns carrying a curved entablature with a triglyph frieze.

The stained glass in the north aisle and the chapel dates from the late 19th or early 20th century and is by Shrigley and Hunt.

[7] Further work was carried out by Victor Saville of Carnforth in 1983, restoring the organ's Georgian appearance.

The clock mechanism was made by Bell and Atkinson of Lancaster in 1866, and occupies a glass case in the middle stage of the tower.

[4] In 2020-1, the Architectural Heritage Fund awarded the Churches Conservation Trust two separate project grants to develop ideas for the future of St John's.

[8] In partnership with the Lancashire and District Chamber of Commerce, the CCT has developed re-use proposals for the church to function as a co-working space and cafe, with a possible extension in the churchyard.

The CCT has commissioned architects Buttress, along with structural and services engineers, quantity surveyors and historians, to make further investigations into the condition and repair liability of the church, as well as the feasibility and costs of the re-use proposals.

Business planning and options appraisals are ongoing and volunteers to help with opening the church to the public on a regular basis are being sought.